RileyPust - "When Alvarez fights on a UFC PPV broadcast, the offer states it entitles him to $1 for each "buy" between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 per buy between 400,000 and 600,000 buys, and $2.50 per buy over 600,000 buys." When you consider that he was offered a fight on the Jones-Sonnen card, which did between 500,000-600,000 buys if I'm not mistaken... you can see that Bellator did not match.

Clearly his contract did not state that he would be on the Jones/Sonnen card. Him being on it was all speculation and that's not how contracts work.

If the UFC really wanted to pay him off the popularity of another fighter, why not just offer him the flat fee? They offered him only $70K so show. At 550K buys, that's $500K in PPV bonus. Why not offer Eddie $570K to show/ $70K to win? Bellator would never have matched.

Short answer: Because they are not going to put him on a PPV to draw money off another fighters popularity. Hector Lombard also receives a PPV bonus. His 3 fights so far? One on Fuel (ZERO in PPV money), one on FX 9(again, ZERO), and the last on the Faber/BArao card which drew $235K buys. So in 3 UFC fights, he's made $35K in PPV bonuses. The UFC is not going to pay any fighter, including Alvarez, off the drawing power of another. Eddie would have ended up on Fox or FSN1 until he proved he is a draw. Bellator also offered him $125K in broadcasting gigs so on paper, higher than the UFC's contract.

bryanand - No, it did not expire. His existing contract had a matching clause in it. He took the offer from the UFC and Bellator matched it(at least according to the courts so far). If he wanted to really have his existing contract expire he should have sat out a year to avoid the matching clause.

The original contract did expire. It has 0 fights left on it. The matching clause gives them the right to compel him to sign a new contract if it fits certain conditions. He has not signed that new contract as he does not believe it fits those conditions.

Either way, I'm a little confused at one thing. Sites are reporting this might not be resolved until late 2014. The original matching clause we're arguing about would expire in October 2013. Couldn't he sign with the UFC then?

No it did not expire. By you saying he completed his contracted fights, you're assuming that verbiage is the only aspect addressed on the contract. They are more complex than that. The matching clause is part of the contract and no, that did not expire. If it did, he would not be in this situation.

Regarding the dates, he could have waited until October, when IT EXPIRED, and signed with the UFC. He, and only he, chose to field other offers before that. The UFC offered him a contract and Bellator matched. So no, it does not expire in October any longer because he has a new contract. I'm sure he hasn't signed Bellators but it doesn't matter. If the judge sides with Bellator, he won't have a choice.

It's a shitty situation because everyone ultimately just wants to see Eddie fight. I think there are a lot more exciting match ups for him in the UFC than in Bellator so I want to see this resolved quickly with him in the UFC. That said, unless Bellator's matching period is something crazy, didn't Vinny just have to wait like 4-5 months before fielding other offers for the matching period to expire? Is Bellator's matching period very long?

MRXC - Don't sign a contract you don't expect to fulfill. Maybe Eddie should fire his agent for not reading the legal obligations of the contract.

The UFC contracts have the same 'match' clause and they would enforce it for any valuable asset they have.

Eddie should/could fight, and I love watching him fight, but I don't care about his excuses for ignorance or stubbornness.

I have a no compete clause in my contract with my employer and they expect me to abide by it or suffer the legal ramifications. Why should Eddie be any different? Because I enjoy watching him fight? That doesn't say much for contract law in the United States.

Why doesn't Eddie just offer Bellator $1M to buy himself out of the contract? I mean, per all the UG, he is going to be making $500K - $1M per fight in the UFC as they are always going to put him on GSP, Anderson, and Jones cards so he can make PPV money based off the drawing power of those guys.

Tomato Can - Eddie supposedly offered Bellator a settlement where they would pay him the "expected value" of the PPV bonuses in his UFC contract. Obviously it was rejected.

Ya, I'm sure he did. Again, Lombard came from the Bellator and receives a share of the PPV, per his contract. His 3 fights?

Okami: On Fuel. ZERO in PPV bonus

Pahlares: On FX: ZERO in PPV bonus

Boetsch: Faber/Barao PPV which drew an estimated 235K buys.

So in 3 UFC fights, Lombard has made a total of $35K in PPV bonuses, or just under $12K per fight.

Was Eddies "offer" more than an additional $12K per fight?

No idea but I'd assume yes, by a wide margin.

Ha...ya. I assume so as well, which is why the whole PPV bonus part of his contract his bullshit. There are posters who think he's going to magically make $1M per fight, he could make ZERO per fight if they keep putting him on FOX and FSN1 shows, or somewhere in the middle. Clearly, there is no way to determine a value to "PPV percentage" in a contract.

LILBROCK - Why doesn't Eddie just offer Bellator $1M to buy himself out of the contract? I mean, per all the UG, he is going to be making $500K - $1M per fight in the UFC as they are always going to put him on GSP, Anderson, and Jones cards so he can make PPV money based off the drawing power of those guys.

That would be awesome! Then Viacom can divide it amongst the lower tier fighters and put some money in their pockets, right? Like how Zuffa should do with the bonus money on the other thread you're posting on. Or at least do the drug testing to ensure an even playing ground for the athletes:) Thoughts?

LILBROCK - Why doesn't Eddie just offer Bellator $1M to buy himself out of the contract? I mean, per all the UG, he is going to be making $500K - $1M per fight in the UFC as they are always going to put him on GSP, Anderson, and Jones cards so he can make PPV money based off the drawing power of those guys.

That would be awesome! Then Viacom can divide it amongst the lower tier fighters and put some money in their pockets, right? Like how Zuffa should do with the bonus money on the other thread you're posting on. Or at least do the drug testing to ensure an even playing ground for the athletes:) Thoughts?

Cindy

No. Viacom probably loses money on MMA at this point. If they were make a killing from MMA like the UFC they should.

^^^ So it was OK for Lorenzo to cut checks from his account to grow the sport, pay guys, and build his brand but its too much to ask of Viacom? GTFO! lol But I guess if they put it in and lose it then they might not be able to finagle a way to get it back out so its probably best that they don't- they should play it safe..... juuuuust in case.

LILBROCK - Why doesn't Eddie just offer Bellator $1M to buy himself out of the contract? I mean, per all the UG, he is going to be making $500K - $1M per fight in the UFC as they are always going to put him on GSP, Anderson, and Jones cards so he can make PPV money based off the drawing power of those guys.

That would be awesome! Then Viacom can divide it amongst the lower tier fighters and put some money in their pockets, right? Like how Zuffa should do with the bonus money on the other thread you're posting on. Or at least do the drug testing to ensure an even playing ground for the athletes:) Thoughts?

Cindy

I don't give a shit what Viacom does with their money. If you want opinions on Bellator fighter pay, why don't you start a thread? This one is about Eddie fighting again. The UG think he's going to make such an insane amount of money fighting for the UFC so it seems it would make sense to buy out his contract and become a millionaire by the end of 2013 instead of waiting around for his Bellator trial until the end of 2014 and realistically not fighting until 2015 sometime. It's simple mathematics.

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